Reading makes a full man, conversation a ready man, and writing an exact man. – Francis Bacon
I enjoy reviewing content, whether books, articles, videos, quotes. In part I do this is because my memory is a sieve that frays and dents with every birthday. I also do this because the more I return to a piece, the more I internalize its lessons, like a karate student practicing the perfect kick. My hunch, probably already proven in a neuroscience study somewhere, is that when you memorize text, like an actor memorizes monologues, the knowledge somehow gets inside you and changes you.
Below are ten pieces of content I return to every month. A calendar event reminds me to do so. The actual number is closer to twenty. The remainder we’ll save for a future post.
1. David Brooks’s 2015 Dartmouth Commencement Address: The 4 Types of Commitments [YouTube]
“It’s the things you chain yourself to that set you free”
2. Richard Hamming: You and Your Research [link]
But if you want to be a great scientist you’re going to have to put up with stress. You can lead a nice life; you can be a nice guy or you can be a great scientist.
3. Paul Graham: How to do what you love [link]
A comparatively safe and prosperous career with some automatic baseline prestige is dangerously tempting to someone young
4. William McPherson: Falling [link]
“the truly poor often look weary”
5. David Brooks: The Heart Grows Smarter [link]
“It was the capacity for intimate relationships that predicted flourishing in all aspects of these men’s lives.”
6. Paul Buchheit: Applied Philosophy, a.k.a. “Hacking” [link]
wherever and whenever there were people, there was someone staring into the system, searching for the truth…these are the people that created the governments, businesses, religions, and other machines that operate our society, and they necessarily did it by hacking the prior systems.
7. Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power [Kindle]
Law 5 So much depends on reputation. Guard it with your life.
8. Steve Pavlina: Broadcast Your Desires [link]
“Of course there will be consequences to broadcasting your desires, but one of those consequences is that you’re more likely to actually get what you want. All the seemingly negative consequences become irrelevant and meaningless when you’re enjoying the manifestation of your desires.”
9. Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People [link]
If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
10. James Clear: Leadership at Scale [link]
I have come to realize that if I’m serious about making an impact with my work, about helping as many people as possible, and about putting a small dent in my corner of the universe — writing will carry my work and ideas further than just about anything else.